PITTSBURGH — Nine games.

That's all that's left.

The playoff chase has essentially slipped away, but the Pittsburgh Pirates still have something meaningful sitting directly in front of them.

Finish at .500.

Pittsburgh enters Friday night's series opener against the Kansas City Royals at 76-77, just one victory away from getting back to even with nine games remaining.

And if the Pirates are going to make one final push toward their first .500-or-better season since 2018, there probably isn't anyone they'd rather have on the mound to begin it.

Paul Skenes gets the baseball.

One Game Away From .500

Considering where this season has been at different points, the Pirates entering the final nine games with a chance to finish .500 or better shouldn't be dismissed.

Pittsburgh hasn't finished a full season at or above .500 since 2018.

That drought could end over the next week and a half.

The Pirates need to go at least 5-4 over their final nine games to finish 81-81.

Go 6-3 and they finish with a winning record.

Is that the goal this organization had when the season started?

Of course not.

But for a young team trying to prove that better days might actually be coming, finishing this season strong matters.

Skenes Gets the Ball

If Pittsburgh wants to get back to .500 Friday night, Paul Skenes gives the Pirates a pretty good chance.

Skenes enters the game with a 10-11 record, 3.78 ERA and 185 strikeouts across 162 innings.

The win-loss record doesn't jump off the page.

The rest of the numbers tell a better story.

Skenes remains Pittsburgh's strikeout leader and continues to give the Pirates the kind of swing-and-miss stuff capable of taking over a game.

His last start was a reminder of exactly that.

Against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Skenes worked seven innings, allowing only two runs on four hits.

Both runs came on solo home runs.

Pittsburgh eventually lost 4-3 after the bullpen surrendered the lead, but Skenes had done his job.

Friday night gives him another opportunity.

Skenes Gets His First Look at Kansas City

Friday will mark Skenes' first career appearance against the Royals.

Kansas City enters the series struggling.

The Royals have lost four of their last five and have already been eliminated from postseason contention.

That doesn't make the lineup harmless.

Kansas City still has hitters capable of punishing mistakes, and Skenes will need to attack the strike zone while keeping traffic off the bases.

If his fastball command looks anything like it did at Wrigley, the Royals could have a long night.

Randy Dobnak Comes Home

The opposing starter brings an interesting Pittsburgh connection.

Randy Dobnak grew up in the greater Pittsburgh area and returns home Friday to face the Pirates.

The right-hander enters at 3-4 with a 2.73 ERA across 69 1/3 innings.

Dobnak has been particularly effective away from home, posting a 1.54 ERA with 24 strikeouts over six road appearances, including five starts.

He has also faced Pittsburgh once before.

That came all the way back in August 2020, when Dobnak threw six scoreless innings against the Pirates.

It's been six years.

This Pirates lineup looks considerably different.

Pittsburgh will try to make his return home much less comfortable this time.

Build on Thursday

The Pirates needed Thursday afternoon.

Badly.

After dropping the first two games against Milwaukee, Pittsburgh was staring at the possibility of being swept at home by the NL Central champions.

Instead, the Pirates finally delivered the big inning.

Pittsburgh scored five runs with two outs in the second and eventually held off Milwaukee for a 7-4 victory.

Konnor Griffin delivered the go-ahead double.

Oneil Cruz drove home two more.

Henry Davis provided a huge two-run homer in the eighth after Milwaukee had cut the lead to one.

Mason Montgomery finished it.

It wasn't perfect.

It was a win.

And Pittsburgh needs to carry that momentum into Friday.

The Pirates' Power Surge Continues

This Pittsburgh lineup has officially entered territory no other Pirates team has reached.

Davis' homer Thursday was Pittsburgh's 175th home run of the season.

The Pirates had already established a new franchise record Wednesday night when Oneil Cruz, Brandon Lowe and Rafael Flores Jr. all went deep.

Now they're simply adding to it.

The question over the final nine games isn't whether Pittsburgh can hit home runs.

It clearly can.

The question is whether the Pirates can consistently turn that power into wins.

Konnor Griffin Keeps Giving Pittsburgh Reasons to Believe

Konnor Griffin delivered again Thursday.

Pittsburgh was trailing 1-0 with two outs in the second when Griffin ripped an opposite-field, two-run double into the left-field corner.

Just like that, the Pirates had the lead.

Just like that, a five-run inning was underway.

Griffin continues to look increasingly comfortable in the majors, and these final nine games provide another opportunity for one of Pittsburgh's most exciting young players to keep building toward 2027.

Oneil Cruz Is Finishing Strong

Oneil Cruz has started to make some noise again.

Wednesday he crushed a 113-mph home run.

Thursday he followed Griffin's double with a two-run single.

The Pirates don't need Cruz to homer every night.

They need him to impact games.

He has done exactly that over the last two.

If Pittsburgh is going to finish this season with a winning record, a strong final stretch from Cruz would certainly help.

Mason Montgomery Has Become a Weapon

While Skenes gets the headlines Friday, what happens after he leaves the game will matter too.

That's where Mason Montgomery enters the conversation.

Montgomery recorded four outs Thursday to earn his 14th save.

He also extended his scoreless streak to 21 2/3 innings.

That's not just a hot week.

That's the kind of stretch that can change how a team views the back end of its bullpen.

If Pittsburgh can hand Montgomery another late lead Friday, confidence in the ninth inning should be pretty high.

Steel Tahn Sports Key to the Game

Players to Watch

Nine Games to Show Something

The final nine games aren't going to send Pittsburgh to October.

But they're not meaningless.

Skenes gets another start.

Griffin gets another nine games of major-league experience.

Cruz gets another opportunity to finish strong.

Flores gets another chance to establish himself.

Montgomery gets another chance to prove he can handle the ninth inning.

And the Pirates collectively have a chance to do something this franchise hasn't done in eight years.

Finish at .500 or better.

That's not a championship.

It's not a playoff berth.

But after years of losing seasons, it would represent progress.

Prediction

Dobnak has pitched well this season.

But Skenes is coming off one of his better starts of the second half, and Pittsburgh finally found some timely offense Thursday afternoon.

With a chance to get back to .500 at home, this feels like a game where the Pirates should have some energy.

Steel Tahn Sports Prediction: Pirates 4, Royals 2

The Bottom Line

The math is simple.

Pittsburgh is 76-77.

Win Friday night and the Pirates are back to .500.

Paul Skenes is on the mound.

The game is at PNC Park.

Kansas City has already been eliminated.

And Pittsburgh is coming off a win against the best team in baseball.

Nine games remain.

The postseason dream might be gone.

But there's still something worth chasing.

Get back to .500.